Marrying the Enemy
by Adina Alexis
Summary: After Sinbad's manipulation of Kougyoku using Zepar was revealed, Kouen decides that having her married to him would ensure that he cannot use that to his advantage. Kougyoku, disillusioned by Sinbad's true colours, finds herself trapped in a marriage she no longer desires. Can the two of them forgive each other & turn this marriage between enemies into one of love?


**Marrying the Enemy**

by saezuri_nohito

Summary:

After it had been discovered that Sinbad had been manipulating Kougyoku using Zepar, Kouen decides that having her married to Sinbad would ensure that he cannot use that to his advantage. Kougyoku, disillusioned by Sinbad's true colours, finds herself trapped in a marriage she no longer desires. Can the two of them forgive each other and turn this marriage between enemies into one of love?

Or simply, one way Kougyoku might have ended up with Sinbad, but not in the way she used to daydream it would be.

Notes:

This diverts from canon, starting from around the time Kouen tells Alibaba that he plans to marry him off to Kougyoku.

(See the end of the work for more notes)

The Al-Thamen had just been defeated, but Ren Kouen still held the belief that complete peace could only be brought into the world if it was united under one rule.

So he moved to strike the Sindrian king down when he was off his guard.

But then to his utter shock, his youngest sister came in between them and struck him a blow that would have killed him if he had not dodged a second faster.

"Kougyoku…?" he said, shock evident in his tone as blood dripped from the wound she had inflicted on his shoulder and Hakuei and his other siblings came to his aid in a panic.

There was a look of horror on her face and Kouen knew that she had not done this by her own will.  
"Unless you want her to harm the people she cares about," the Sindrian king said bluntly. "You will stand down."

The realisation that she had been put under control somehow by her first love and that she could be used to harm her family and friends drove Kougyoku instantly into despair. Without thinking further on her actions, she fully equipped her djinn, jumped high into the air and tried to impale herself.

"No, stop!" Sinbad commanded her, which barely saved her life. True panic at her unexpected action was clear in his tone.

Alibaba came up in the air to get her. "It's going to be ok, Kougyoku," he said in a soothing tone. "Come back down."

She shook her head. "I can't - he'll make me hurt all of you!"

As he tried to get closer to her, she threw up a wall of water akin to her extreme magic except that instead of crashing down on them all, its torrential power blocked everyone from chasing after her.  
Then she went and disappeared into the sky. By the time they could get through the barrier, the 8th Kou imperial princess had vanished, leaving chaos in her wake.

.-.-.

Kougyoku had dived into the nearest river she could find and made her way into the open sea. Staying immersed underwater, she never ran out of magoi and thus was able to use Vinea's full body armour to swim as deep as she could and as far away as possible from everyone else.

Once she felt that she had swam to a depth that no one else except her could reach easily, she started un-equipping her djinn and prepared to drown.

"Don't, Himegimi," Sinbad's voice whispered, barely coherent.

Her full armour came back on without her will as she found herself breathing normally again through her gills.

She didn't understand. Why did he stop her from killing herself but did not force her to go back?

She swam further and further until she found an underwater cavern where she unequipped Vinea and collapsed into much needed sleep.

.-.-.

The Kou imperial princess's attempt at suicide and subsequent disappearance had strained relations between Sindria and the Kou empire again, as if the alliance between them in order to go against Al-Thamen had never happened.

The only reason war itself had not immediately erupted was because the Ren siblings had witnessed the Sindrian king panicking at Kougyoku's sudden suicidal attempt and taking control over her body to prevent her from killing herself.

But now that the princess knew that she was under his control, he could no longer take control over her body as he pleased, so he could not simply make her came back to them. He had to find a way to locate her.

And thus the high possibility and likelihood that the purple haired man was the only one who could find her whilst she remained and refused to leave the depths of the ocean (since her element was water, Koumei couldn't force her to come back using his transporting spell unless she left the ocean, which was doubtful) spared Sinbad from death at the hands of outraged Ren family king vessel holders as well as one furious Balbadd prince.

There was one method, but it was one which his generals greatly opposed.

"Because your rukh is in her body, you are the only one I can teleport to where she is. It won't work if we tried having someone else tag along with you," Yamuraiha explained.

"That's fine."

"You should at least bring one of your king vessels with you, Sin."

"…I won't be able to persuade her if I came armed."

.-.-.

It had only been a day since she disappeared on them, but the situation had affected the princess immensely.

She had become so pale - not the kind of pearly shade her skin had been before, which had been carefully kept as it was considered desirable and attractive by people in the Kou empire. No, this kind of pale made her seem like a cold, lifeless doll.

She was still alive but her skin was cold, though it lacked the prune-like effect others would have from swimming so long thanks to Vinea. Underwater caverns were not kind to efforts at fire making but from the look of things she had not even tried to do that, but instead had fallen asleep out of fatigue despite the clamminess due to how exhausted she was.

When Sinbad took her into his arms, he was expecting her to wake up, shriek and most likely attempt to kill him, so he braced himself for the worst.

The princess did wake up, but only half-consciously. "Sinbad-sama?" she whispered, her voice husky not just from sleep but from crying. "I must be hallucinating…why would you be down here anyway…"

Then she drifted back to sleep, burrowing herself further into his much needed and comforting warmth.

.-.-.

Something was wrong, Kougyoku thought, the moment she woke up, though she still kept her eyes closed.

Why she did feel warm rather than cold and clammy as she should be and why was the ground beneath her softer than she remembered it being when she fell asleep and why was it…breathing?!

She opened her eyes to find herself in the arms of the man who had landed her in this predicament in the first place and froze for a moment. She remembered waking up to him much earlier at some point, but she had been sure he had only been a hallucination.

"Himegimi-"

At the sound of Sinbad's voice at a normal volume, not a whisper unlike last time which she took to indicate that he was at a very far off distance, Kougyoku reacted instinctively. She grabbed Vinea, equipped her full body armour and before he could say another word, had her sword pressed right against his throat, drawing a thin cut of blood, fingers trembling from the effort of not killing him straight away.

"Why are you here?!" her tone was full of anger, but also of despair.

From his position right beneath her, Sinbad knew that it was entirely inappropriate but very much like him to take this time to admire how much skin her armour exposed. During their spar and then in any battles that took place after, he understandably had not really taken the time to look properly. But now that it seemed like his death was likely imminent at this point, he drank in the sight of her arousing outfit, and shamelessly thought that it was a pity that he was unable to see her entirely naked in full.

If he was going to die soon, at least it was at the hands of a beautiful and tantalisingly almost naked woman who did have the right to kill him for wronging her.

"To take you back," he finally answered.

"Liar!" She pressed her blade slightly deeper into his skin. "You could have just controlled me and made me go back!"

"That's where you're wrong, princess. I can no longer control you as I did before."

"What…?"

"You're aware of it now, so your guard is up. I can only do it fully and without difficulty when you're asleep," he admitted. Only after he said this did he realise that he probably should not have said such a thing to the princess, whose eyes widened at the realisation that she had been at his mercy for goodness knows how long just now before she woke up.

The moment she made a move to get away from him, drawing her sword away from his throat, he pulled her down so she would land smack right on top of him, making her shriek out of surprise.

"Dispel, Zepar," he whispered into her ear before she could strike him with her sword.  
Kougyoku's head felt woozy all of a sudden and she fainted.

.-.-.

Waking up three times in the arms of a man who was supposed to be an enemy was certainly a bad thing, Kougyoku thought.

She felt angry at herself for flushing when his face was the first thing he saw from the moment she first woke up, despite all that he had done to her.

Scrambling away from him, her fingers automatically sought for Vinea, which to her surprise, was back in her hair.

"Once I dispel the control I have over someone, I can no longer use the same spell over that person again," he said without any prompting from her.

Her eyes narrowed, hands still posed to take Vinea out. "I don't believe you."

"I came here unarmed." He stretched his arms wide open to show her that indeed, he had no visible king vessels in the form of jewels nor weapons on him, unless he was hiding a really small and unnoticeable one in his clothes. "I wanted to convince you of my sincerity, princess."

The sound of water dripping onto the ground echoed throughout the cavern, emphasising the silence as the princess took in what his confession meant.

"I am entirely at your mercy, Kougyoku," Sinbad said finally.

"Don't call me that!" she snapped at him, something that had never happened before. He was no friend of hers, and hearing her name called that way made her remember Alibaba.

Her first friend, who tried to calm her down before she took off. The guilt that shone through his eyes made her think that he had somehow known about the spell that had been placed on her.

Equipping Vinea, she dived into the water without sparing the purple-haired man another glance and left him alone in the cavern.

.-.-.

After floating mindlessly for a while at a level of the ocean where the sunlight pierced through and warmed her, Kougyoku closed her eyes and thought about the man she wished so much to abandon to his death, since she could not find it in her to kill him directly.

He said that she was entirely at his mercy, but she doubted that was true. Even if he did not have any of his king vessels with him, it would be entirely stupid and suicidal if his generals did not at least force a spell to be placed on him before he was teleported here.

So what was he waiting for? Or perhaps the teleportation spell could only be used for one person? But if he had truly disenchanted her, then he could just leave, couldn't he? She could get back to land at least even if it was not her empire just fine on her own.

Kougyoku closed her eyes and tried to think of what Kouen nii-sama would think in this situation.

There must be a reason why Sinbad had chased after her this fast after her leaving. She had been so sure that no one could get to her at this depth, but he had. How?

Through the spell he had placed on her somehow, she surmised. Which explained why he was the one who tried to get her back and not someone else, despite him being the last person she would want to see right now.

She also had to make the decision to go back to the Kou empire on her own. If she didn't, if he forced her to come back not of her own will - it would be like he didn't dispel the spell from her.

His actions would provide evidence that he had released the spell from her. And if she came back without him in tow and left him down there in that cavern and he really (even though she felt that such a thing was impossible) couldn't go back without her help, then she would be troubling her empire further for abandoning him.

But would such a thing really convince her family of his decision to free her from his control?

Kougyoku closed her eyes and sighed, long and wearily. Such thoughts were distressful for her to think about, but she didn't have much time to ponder on such things. They both had people waiting for their safe return, whose patience hung only by a thread of belief that they would both return unharmed.

She shook her head and decided to catch some fish for herself, as her growling stomach reminded her of her hunger.

.-.-.

Two days after she first awoke in his arms, Sinbad was still right there in her underwater cavern no matter how long she spent swimming outside the cavern and hoping not to find him there. The evidence that he didn't go anywhere when she was gone came in the form of his stomach growling out of hunger, as he did try fishing using the few materials lying around the underwater cavern, but that plan didn't seem to work out very well for him for once.

Curse her, but after hearing that continuous growling sound, she decided to catch some fish for him too, telling herself that she was only feeding him so his stomach would stop making so much noise so she can sleep in peace - this was the only underwater cavern for miles, for rukh's sake!

In truth, she realised that no matter how deeply wounded she felt being used in such a manner by her first love, she could not find it in herself to kill him. Not only because of the small part of her that still held a vestige of her damnable feelings for him, but also because if he was not returned back to Sindria soon, this would spark a war which the world could not afford, when they have just defeated the Al-Thamen.

Even if he came here unarmed, he probably thought of that and knew that she would not kill him so easily, the goddamn bastard.

…This had been going for long enough. Three days was probably the longest period he could get his generals to agree to leave him be before tearing the ocean apart to look for him. It was also probably all the compromise her eldest brother was willing to take and give to bring her back before waging war.

But she couldn't let that happen.

"Let's go," she told him. Although Sinbad was surprised by this sudden decision, he did not wish to question it and approached her.

She placed her hands against his cheeks. Something grew there and when he felt them, he discovered that they were gills.

"Hold onto me," she told him. Being demanded to press against and hold onto a pretty, barely dressed woman would normally excite him and he would usually be more than happy to thoughtlessly oblige, but right at this moment, the crimson-haired woman was currently in full control of his life and death.

He curled his hands around her waist hesitantly, but shockingly she had no such hesitance and pulled him right against her and together, they dived through the exit.

.-.-.

The two of them had been at the bottom of the ocean, but Kougyoku had them spiralling out of the water and up into the air faster than he thought possible.

The moment they were, Sinbad felt the gills dissipate from his face. For one wild moment, he thought she was going to drop him from where they were in the air and back into the water, defenceless, in the middle of nowhere, with no islands as far as the naked eye could see, even from up here.

It didn't help that Kougyoku was looking at him the way she was. She had never looked at him so sombrely before. Even if he might still have a place in her heart, she was never going to look at him in the purely lovestruck way she did before ever again.

The princess held his gaze and then said quietly, "Koumei-niisama."

And then Sinbad's panic became real as a familiar looking light encompassed them and blinded him.

.-.-.

The moment the two of them appeared in the throne room of Kou Empire's palace, the guards tensed and were about to subdue the Sindrian king, but were blocked by their eighth imperial princess, who warned them off with a wave of Vinea.

"I would like very much to say that I brought him here so that you may kill him, nii-sama," Kougyoku said quietly, eyes trained on her elder brother who sat on the throne. "But if you do that, you will spark a war with Sindria and the Seven Seas Alliance, and we cannot afford that right now."

The serious look in her eyes made the eldest Ren brother reconsider asking her if that was her talking or Sinbad. He had always been aware that his youngest sister was the peaceful sort and thus he found her desire to stop another war from erupting believable; and not one manipulated by the Sindrian.

"…Then why is he here, Kougyoku?" he asked instead.

"He dispelled the controlling spell he placed over me." At their incredulous looks, she continued, "I wasn't sure if I believed in him either, so I brought him here to convince you all that he has."

"How?" Just as she suspected, her willingness to come back out of her own volition wasn't enough to convince her family that she was no longer under his control.

So she did the only thing she thought could convince them and herself.

Without warning, she encased her first love in a sphere of water which he could not get out of and drowned him.

A heartbeat of shock and horror. Then, "Stop. Stop, Kougyoku!"

It was only at the rising volume of her eldest brother's commanding tone that she did. A tear had rolled down one cheek as she dispelled the water orb, releasing her victim to the ground.

The Sindrian king choked and sputtered, but he was nevertheless alive. He looked up at her with an expression he never did before, and she felt that she had at least got back at him, even if only slightly.

"For now, our alliance holds," Kouen told the drenched king. "We will commence talks once Kougyoku has had her rest."

He nodded to Koumei.

Sinbad's last sight before the second Kou prince teleported him back to his generals was the sight of Kougyoku un-equipping her djinn and collapsing, to the panic of everyone around her.

.-.-.

Sindria's eight generals were in the Sindrian designated meeting tent discussing how they should try to locate their missing king as he had gone past the three days he'd set, when said king suddenly appeared out of nowhere and without warning right in front of them.

"Sin!"

"But how-?"

"And why are you drenched-?"

"Ren Koumei transported me here."

That sentence generated more questions more than it stopped them. But Mashrur placed a hand on Jaafar's shoulder, and that made everyone quiet down.

Their king picked up his king vessels where he had left them and then exited without another word.

"Maybe we should never have let him take off like that," Yamuraiha whispered. The expression on his face was one she had not recalled ever seeing before.

Remembering the conversation they shared regarding his enchantment of the Kou princess, Jaafar thought privately, It was something he needed to do. Or else he can no longer go back to the Sin we decided to support in the first place.

.-.-.

Kougyoku had been asleep for two full days before she woke up and the tension between Sindria and the Kou empire finally started dying down with her apparent health.

"What will happen to me now, Alibaba?" she whispered to her friend, who stayed behind after her siblings and servants left her to rest.

"Come with me, Kougyoku."

"What do you mean…?"

Quietly, he told her about her brother's conditions for retracting the Kou empire's influence on Balbadd. Of their engagement, which was to be announced after the war against the Al-Thamen had been won.

"I tried telling you before," he said miserably. "But…" Sinbad had taken control over your body then, he didn't want to bring up and remind her of him.

"…I can't accept your offer, Alibaba."

"Kougyoku-"

"You like Morgiana don't you?" The flush that overtook the young man's face told her more than any denials he would try to make would.

Although it was still not official in the form of marriage or even engagement, Kougyoku could clearly tell that her friend had a bond with Morgiana which would one day bloom into a proper romantic relationship. "I don't want to come in between the two of you," she said firmly.

Alibaba shook his head. "We'll figure something out," he said determinedly. "So come to Balbadd with us."

"…Thank you, Alibaba-chan," Kougyoku accepted in the end. Maybe, in Balbadd she could start fresh with Alibaba's friendship to comfort her.

.-.-.

Ren Kougyoku would have made a splendid queen for Sindria, Sinbad thought, as his mind drifted to that of the youngest Kou princess, something which kept happening ever since they both came back from their brief oceanic interlude.

He had not been interested in the thought of having a consort before, so he had not entertained the thought of her as a possible queen for Sindria, only as a convenient and highly useful pawn and spy he could plant in the Kou empire.

But now he was. As a king vessel holder she had the ability to protect and defend not only herself but also others, which his people had witnessed once before already and even were indebted to her for it. Gaining her as a bride would also secure the Kou empire's promise that their nations were allied and thus no invasion would occur, theoretically.

But those were all political reasons. What would make Kougyoku the kind of queen the Sindrian people would love was that she was sweet and gentle when outside of battle, possessing an adorable kind of charm that could make no one hate her. It had also been very obvious that she was infatuated with him, a quality he knew his people would approve of in his queen.

An ideal queen for Sindria would be just like that, in order to balance out their charismatic king who was wise and appeared perfect but had a hidden side which would do anything to get what he wanted in the name of his kingdom.

But if she did become his queen, all that sweetness and gentleness would soon disappear, especially now that she realised what he was really like.

…It was a good thing that Ren Kouen had her engaged to Alibaba rather than him. After all he had done to her, she was never going to forgive him.

And if he was any other man, he would also have a hard time forgetting the fact that she was the one woman who almost killed him. As it was, the fact that she almost did, when he was unarmed to boot, as proof of loyalty to her family…it earned her his respect instead.

Why am I dwelling on this? he thought as he entered into renewed talks with the Kou empire.

And then Sinbad realised why when the talks commenced and Ren Kouen told him right from the start that the Kou-Sindria alliance would be kept only if he took Kougyoku as his queen.

Despite Kougyoku almost killing him to prove that he could not control her anymore, they felt that she had been compromised. Even if she could no longer be controlled by him in truth, it did not change the fact that she had been under his control before and that suspicion would take forever, or possibly even, never ebb down and would always cling to her for as long as she stayed in the empire.

So they handed her over to him.

Thinking back on all the thoughts he had just before this meeting of her merits of being Sindria's queen, Sinbad sighed inwardly at the thought that he had been trapped into a marriage of convenience for the second time with this particular princess. Except this time there was no peaceful way out.

He accepted the offer.

.-.-.

The next time her eldest brother came to visit, Kougyoku asked him if the marriage between her and Alibaba would still go on. After trying to assess his sister's reason for asking, Kouen shook his head and dropped a bombshell on her.

"No. You will be marrying Sinbad of Sindria instead."

And the hope that Kougyoku felt of a future she could learn to live with and had seen briefly in Alibaba's offer evaporated into thin air.

When Kouen left Kougyoku's room, she had a blank look on her face.

He knew that she couldn't understand his reasons for abruptly changing her marriage partner right then. All she could see was that he had given her away to a man who had taken advantage of her feelings for him and made her into the perfect pawn and spy he could plant in his enemy's empire.

But that was precisely why he decided to marry her to Sinbad instead. She couldn't stay in the empire, where there were soldiers and citizens who had witnessed her injuring him, the new emperor - he intended to give her full pardon, but even then he knew that Kougyoku would experience more poisonous whispers and disparaging looks added to the ones she already received as a half-royal princess.

He couldn't continue with the initial plan to marry her off to the Balbadd brat either, even though that marriage would be one she would be much happier with at present. For one, he knew that she accepted Alibaba's feelings for his household member Morgiana, and was willing to step aside from the picture at least emotionally, a fact that he knew would hurt her in the end no matter how well she got along with both the prince and the young Fanalis.

But more importantly, if by any chance that Sindrian was still able to control her, then placing her in a different kingdom than his own would be advantageous to him. But if she was married to him - well now.

That would be a different matter altogether.

She would become like one of his generals, the embodiment of the alliance that Sindria and the Kou empire had drawn up. There would be no point now for him not to protect her, especially as his first consort and the mother of his legitimate heirs.

Kougyoku had also not seen how panicked the Sindrian royal had been when she took off and he had realised that he could not command her to come back. Even if he did not have feelings for her in a romantic way, the man did seem to at least have a soft spot for her.

Good enough, Kouen thought. That was more than other couples in political marriages could hope for, more than what his other sisters had, as they had first met their husbands during their wedding ceremony.

Plus, Kougyoku had been infatuated with the Sindrian king before, thus she would be getting what she had once desired.

He tried not to dwell on the fact that just days ago, his sister had almost drowned his future brother-in-law, a fact that would certainly affect their relationship.

.-.-.

The eight Sindrian generals, who knew that the Zepar spell had been cast over and then dispelled from Kougyoku, endeavoured to make their new queen as comfortable as possible as a permanent resident rather than a temporary one in the palace at the very least. Asking for her happiness for now was nothing short of impossible.

The citizens of Sindria didn't seem at all surprised that they came back with the Kou imperial princess in tow, this time as their king's bride. They had heard of the almost marriage between the two before and so for it to actually happen for real this time was not too much of a shock.

And regardless of what had happened, Kougyoku found no basis in hating the very caring and welcoming Sindrian people, and accepted their congratulations in return with a smile that took all her effort to muster as they held their wedding in Sindria.

Now, if only the new Sindrian queen would truly accept the king once more…

.-.-.

"In Kou it is acceptable for the Emperor to have multiple concubines," Kougyoku told him later that night. "I don't know what the custom is here," since he was after all the first king and this was his first marriage. "But if you desire a harem, I will accept it."

Silence. Her eyes remained locked on his seriously and his on hers with a masked expression.  
I don't want you to touch me, the words hung silently, but blatantly in the air.

"…Good night, himegimi," was all Sinbad said in the end as he left for his adjoining chambers, closing the door in between them with a resounding click.

Even as the celebrations continued on outside the palace, the two who were being celebrated slept separately that night and the only sound that could be heard was that of Kougyoku's stifled sobs.

.-.-.

After that, on the surface their relationship as seen by the others who knew not of the true situation appeared cordial. They were not publicly affectionate but this was taken to mean that they must prefer not to be demonstrative in front of others, which was strange considering Sinbad's openly playboy behaviour but believable due to Kougyoku's tendency to blush easily when she was in the presence of her husband. So they came to the conclusion that he restrained himself due to his wife's wishes.

If only they knew the truth.

True, she could barely keep eye contact with him much like she did before when she had still been entirely infatuated with him, but now it wasn't due to shyness. Looking at him and meeting his gaze reminded her of the fact that she was married to the man who took advantage of her, who she tried to kill before simply to prove a point to her family, in order to show that she was still loyal to them.

Who then chose to send her away and wedded her to the very same man she tried to kill for them.

.-.-.

Although the two of them were the only resident king vessel users in Sindria, since sparring with him before had resulted in her being put under a curse, Kougyoku refused to spar with him again.

But she missed using Vinea, so she decided to use it on long, deep swims she would take sometimes around Sindria when she felt like going off on her own.

"Kougyoku-sama, where are you going?"

"Out for swim," she said airily, striding past her female attendants. "Don't worry, I'll be back before sundown."

.-.-.

"Everyone was getting worried," Sinbad told her from above, in Focalor form.

"It's nice, floating like this in isolation," she replied. She did not mention 'sorrow', although the word hung between them.

"I just miss using Vinea."

The alternative way she could be using Vinea hung in the air between them, but neither touched upon the issue.

Anger he could deal with. His first djinn is of wrath after all, so he understands how to deal with it well, which is why most people forget that he could be a rather wrathful person.

But sorrow? Specifically, Kougyoku in a sorrowful state? He wasn't sure how to go about it. When he had made her into a pawn, at most it was never with any intention of her finding out about the fact that he had made her one (relying on the fact that others would not tell her in order not to hurt her), or at least if she did find out, then he would make himself scarce from her sight and mind from then on.

So of course, in a twist of irony, they ended up wedded to each other. And now he was married to a sorrowful wife who wanted nothing to do with him, a fact that he knew was entirely his fault.

What can he do so she would forgive him?

.-.-.

"I want to give you a crown, as befitting of your status as Sindria's queen," Sinbad told her over lunch one day. Normally they would have meals with the generals as well, but today it was just the two of them and before he spoke, it had been awkwardly silent at the table. "But I want your thoughts on the design."

She fingered the Kou imperial crown she still wore. "I still want to wear this," she said truthfully.

"I understand," he said gently. "But please, take a look at these designs."

The designs showed additions that could be attached to her current crown, looking like plainer and simpler versions of the headdress she wore in her full djinn armour.

She would not have to discard her identity as Kou royalty, nor as a dungeon conqueror, and she would still be able to convey her new status as Sindria's queen.

After choosing one design to be sent off to the jewellers, while passing by him after excusing herself from the meal, she whispered, "Thank you," and ran off before he could say anything.

Slowly, Sinbad thought to himself. She will forgive me in small amounts.

.-.-.

"Kougyoku-san," Pisti called on her one day. "Sindria is rather warm compared to the Kou empire," Pisti reasoned. "Would you like to try on some lighter and thinner dresses the tailor has brought today?"

It was no secret that the smaller woman was rather a diva when it came to clothes, and had an interest in buying others clothes she thought would suit them as well. So it was a given that she would eventually target her new queen for her clothes obsession.

"Here, try this one on," the Artemyran princess insisted before she could protest, ushering her behind the changing screen.

Kougyoku knew that this was just another one of the generals' attempts at making her feel welcome here in Sindria, so even with the unease she felt at the sight of the somewhat revealing (according to the Kou culture's standards at least) dress, she tried it on.

"I can't wear something like this in public!" she protested however in the end, once she put it on. In general the dress was acceptable she supposed, although the sleeves were short and the skirt only reached her knees. But It was the first time she wore an outfit which had such a low neckline, showcasing her cleavage which was unheard of in the empire outside of the armour she wore during battle.

"Eh, come out from there and look at yourself in the mirror first," the blonde insisted, dragging her from her refuge behind the changing screen.

It is at this rather opportune moment that a knock came upon the door and Pisti cheerfully told whoever it was to "Come on in!" despite Kougyoku's frantic signalling of "No!" and attempt to hide behind the screen again from whoever decided to pay her a visit.

And of all people, of course it had to be Sinbad who strolled through the door.

"Doesn't she look good, Sin?" Pisti asked, as she blocked her queen from hiding behind the changing screen at his sudden appearance.

He tried to make it seem like it wasn't the first time he'd actually seen so much of his wife's skin exposed apart from battle, even though the only one in the room who didn't know of their marital problems was the tailor. "You look beautiful," he managed to say without croaking and staring too much at her cleavage.

The dress was wonderful too, in that it had no long sleeves for her to hide her face behind, and so he could see quite clearly that she was blushing becomingly at his praise.

"But your neck looks rather…lonely?" he came forwards and placed something around her neck. It was a simple gold necklace with three teardrop shaped stones hanging from it, one that matched the jewel on his turban, another that signified the Kou empire, and the middle that was her favourite stone, the turquoise, a colour that reminded her of Vinea's water element.

It was the first piece of jewellery he gave to her aside from her crown - which had been expected and was even a necessity - and he gave it to her so casually and with such spot on timing that she was beginning to suspect that he had arranged all this on purpose with his most petite general. If she hadn't been trying on such clothes where the necklace would easily show, she would have received the necklace awkwardly, wondering just how she was supposed to wear such a thing when wearing her usual Kou clothing.

Even though she had only been the Eighth Imperial Princess, she had still received much more lavish jewellery than this and yet, the simple but rather meaningful necklace still made her traitorous heart race.

"Thank you," she told him. But unlike before with the crown, she didn't run off since he was after all, in her chambers.

"Come to the feast tonight like this?" he asked of her.

.-.-.

"It's shocking, but he's not actually given into the dancers, even when we're not there to drag him back to bed when he lets himself get piss off drunk in public."

Said girls still throw themselves at him despite the fact that he was clearly married now.

Married to a woman who understandably shut him out of their marriage bed from their wedding night. They had not even consummated the marriage, but no one knew this fact besides the couple themselves and the generals. The latter were wondering exactly what to think of their king's newfound monogamous ways and what to do about it since he was clearly not focused on his kingly duties as much as they imagined he would normally be otherwise.

The generals decided as a whole, to delicately approach the queen regarding the matter. They designated Yamuraiha as being more suitable of the two female generals to talk to her (since Pisti would only suggest - seriously, at that too - for her to get involved in an affair at the side and such).

"How are you, Kougyoku-san?" Yamuraiha asked after the servants waiting on her were dismissed from the tea room so they could talk in private.

"Just the same, Yamuraiha-san."

"His mind wanders off in the middle of meetings and there is a far off look in his eyes most of the times."

"Is there something wrong with him?" curse her, but Kougyoku couldn't keep the worry from seeping into her voice.

How was she supposed to explain this? "He's frustrated," the witch admitted in the end, going with the blunt truth.

"About what?"

"You, milady."

"But I haven't done anything to him!"

"And that's exactly why he's frustrated."

Finally understanding what the green haired woman was trying to say, she felt a blush inflaming her face. "I told him I didn't mind if he had a harem."

That was a surprise, and news to Yamuraiha. "You did?"

She nodded. "On our wedding night. I told him that concubines were acceptable in the Kou empire so it was fine if he decided to have them too."

"Why did you tell him that?"

"Sinbad-sama…is not the kind of man who intends to marry in his lifetime. But now he has. I…don't wish to keep him tied down to only me if that is not what he wishes."

Was it bad that even though Yamuraiha had known Sinbad longer, she totally felt like rooting for her Queen on this matter? Knowing how jealous the Kou princess had been of the women who practically draped themselves all over Sinbad when she came over previously as diplomat, the fact that she had offered to let him continue with his playboy habits was nothing short of giving on her part.

"Except he doesn't want to keep one, Kougyoku-san," Yamuraiha explained gently. At that surprising statement, Kougyoku's eyes widened in disbelief. "It's true!" she insisted. "He's never had a proper, established harem before because he said it would be too troublesome to keep and that it would cause problems."

"One of the reasons why Sinbad has always avoided marriage all this while even though it could benefit Sindria greatly was because he hadn't been interested in it."

"Now that he is married though…it's unexpected, but it seems like he had always intended to only have one woman at his side and no others, even discreet ones."

"We've never seen him this frustrated before."

Kougyoku stiffened. "What are you telling me to do?"

"We are not suggesting anything, Your Highness. Just that we hope…that one day you can give him another chance. He does not wish to push you, but he is trying in his own way, to be true to you, even though you have given him a way out."

"He does not want this to remain simply a political marriage."

The unfinished tea grew cold as Kougyoku pondered over the conversation long after the witch excused herself.

.-.-.

In truth, Drakon alone out of the generals had an inkling of the reason behind Sinbad's sudden decision to remain monogamous. But the dragon had no intention to comment on the matter unless the others asked him directly about it, so he kept silent, amused at his fellow generals' confusion.

He did however, tell his wife and asked her to tell Kougyoku in his stead, afraid that he would be unable to convey the message to her well enough (and that his dragonness was going to intimidate her, along with his old man talk).

And so one day over a sudden request for tea just between the two of them rather than with Pisti and Yamuraiha as was usually the case, Drakon's wife told her queen the story of Sinbad's late parents, of the unwavering love they held for each other even though one had died before the other, a love which lasted even until they each exhaled their last breath.

"My husband believes…that although he never made a notion of it before, Sinbad-sama must actually desire to have a relationship like the one his parents shared, especially if he were ever to get married."

"It is of course up to you whether you believe it or not, Kougyoku-sama. But please remember, we only desire happiness for the two of you."

With those parting words, she left her queen alone so she could let her tears fall in the privacy of her tea room where no one could see her feel touched by her deceased in-laws' tragic tale.

.-.-.

One night after the separate conversations she'd had with Yamuraiha and Drakon's wife, Kougyoku heard the sound of moans coming from her husband's adjoining chambers. Despite her still conflicting feelings for the man, she felt worried for him and decided to check and make sure he was alright, opening the rarely locked door between them without knocking unthinkingly.

"Sinbad-?"

To Sinbad's utter mortification, his wife discovered him masturbating on his bed.

He hurriedly hid himself beneath the covers.

But then Kougyoku did something shocking. Instead of recoiling in disgust or embarrassment and retreating back to her chambers and locking their adjoining door, she held his gaze boldly and pulled back the covers, exposing him to the air.

"What should I do?" she asked quietly.

"I - what?" was he hallucinating from his self-imposed abstinence, he wondered?

"Teach me," she told him.

.-.-.

After he came and before he could recover, Kougyoku slipped off his lap and went back to her chambers.

"Good night," she threw over her shoulder before the door closed, the lock clicking in place.

Leaving him feeling somehow more frustrated than he had been before she had come in.

.-.-.

"Has something happened between the two of you, Kougyoku-sama?" Yamuraiha inquired later on during the same week.

"Why, has he still not gone back to focusing fully?"

"When you are in the vicinity, he alternates between looking at you and flushing, and then making sure to avoid your gaze."

"…I heard him moaning in his room the other day so I went to check."

Yamuraiha winced. Since he had been surprisingly strict about being monogamous, that would mean that Sinbad could only have been doing one thing.

"I um…," the Sindrian queen coloured. "I helped him…get off."

The witch's eyebrows threatened to disappear far into her hairline at that confession. "Well," she said finally. "No wonder he's even more frustrated now."

(Since the two's relationship was still fragile, Yamuraiha decided against sharing this little tidbit with her other fellow generals and immediately teasing her king about this, instead filing it away as blackmail material for the unforeseen future.)

Seeing the flushed look on her queen's face, she added, "…But that's alright. Take your time."

.-.-.

"Are you alright, Kougyoku?" Alibaba asked. It was his first visit to Sindria after the wedding.

She considered the blond. Her first friend, who had been engaged to her twice, though it seems matrimony was not meant for them. Their friendship though was one that was going well despite not being able to see each other all the time, which they kept going through the letters they often sent each other and she truly treasured it.

She did not want to make him worry for her.

"I'm getting better," she finally conceded. How was she supposed to explain to him that even though so far romantic love was not present in her relationship with Sinbad, mutual lust and attraction was, and she was glad for that at least?

"Are you sure?" he asked again, worried.

She smiled to reassure him, unaware that in the distance gold eyes were glaring down at the two of them.

.-.-.

"What did you talk about with Kougyoku?" Sinbad's tone sounded mild, but his serious expression indicated that what he was really feeling was far from otherwise.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were jealous," Alibaba commented to the older man, who tried and failed to pretend that the statement had not affected him. In the end, after throwing Alibaba a look, he stalked off.

That expression was probably the closest thing to a glare that Sinbad would ever throw his way. Alibaba wondered if that meant that he was now genuinely considered a threat by the charismatic purple haired ladies' man and if such unexpected anger on his part when the Balbadd prince had expected only indifference meant that there was hope yet for Kougyoku.

.-.-.

Ever since Kougyoku had made the first move of walking into his chambers without knocking that one time, Sinbad decided to do the same, except he waited for her to fall asleep before he did.

She had worn a simple, thin and short kimono to bed tonight. And although Sindria was warm, she had the habit of tucking herself under a thin blanket, although eventually he knew from previous visits, that it would be pushed off.

Tonight the blanket had gone down past her chest, her cleavage peeking from where her collar had shifted in her sleep, while one leg was exposed to the air.

He did not sit down on her bed or touch her, afraid that he would wake her - especially because she seemed to prefer sleeping at the side of the bed rather than at the centre. Instead, he would just stand there at her bedside and take in the sight of her.

There were no dried tear tracks on her cheeks tonight, nor was she shifting restlessly, plagued by nightmares (the kind he hoped he was not a part of, but he certainly must be, since she sometimes uttered, "No, don't - don't make me -." Of course it could be some other kind of trauma as well, but in this case he'd rather it be him, rather than any other kind her utterances implied that would only stir up his inner wrath).

He could no longer hear her sobbing through the door as he had on their wedding night, and wondered if that was only because she no longer let herself consciously do so since he could hear it.

Each time he snuck into her room like this, he would always ask himself what was he doing, spying on her as she slept like this? He was about to return to his chambers as per usual after asking himself this question, when he heard her moan his name in her sleep.

That kind of sound was - he paused. Could it be that in her sleep, she was…?

This was probably an idiotic thing for him to do, but curiosity and hope won over cautiousness and softly he said, "Kougyoku?" as he leaned down closer to her.

Her eyes opened sleepily. "Sinbad-sama?"

He fully expected her to drift back to sleep, but she did something shocking and unexpected instead.

She pulled him down by his collar and kissed him.

And then the sleepiness swiftly left those pink eyes when she realised that she was not in fact dreaming.

"Sinbad?!" she shrieked. Realising with a blush that her cleavage was showing, she hurriedly tried to adjust her clothing.

But her husband's hands stilled her.

"Will you let me see?" he asked quietly. "You've seen me already."

Although her fingers were trembling, she slowly lowered her clothing, all the while with her eyes closed out of embarrassment. She could still hear him exhale though, especially once she had pushed away the blanket and her undergarments could be seen.

"So you were having a wet dream." His voice came out throatier than he intended. "What were you dreaming about?"

Kougyoku's face became almost as red as her hair. She shook her head and wouldn't look at him.

"Are you too embarrassed to tell me?" Damn it, he totally felt like a perverted old man when he said that.

She nodded mutely.

"Alright. Shall I guess then?" He leaned forward without warning, whispering directly into her ear. Kougyoku's pulse raced. "You moaned my name. And then you kissed me," since he seemed to be waiting for a response, she nodded. "Did I kiss you here next?" he started kissing her neck.

She shook her head. Her lips were trembling. He continued kissing her neck anyway, leaving a mark he knew would be visible unless she pulled the collar of her usual Kou style dress high around her neck.

"How about here?" he whispered, pressing a finger lightly against her (…yes I know, I'm kind of … about these sex scenes)

.-.-.

The first time Sinbad made Kougyoku come, he felt both triumphant and frustrated. However, he knew that this was as far as they should go tonight, regardless of his frustration, because he knew he had worn her out already and she might not be ready to go any further for now. He was just about to leave, much like she had left him previously, but she tugged on his sleeve.

"Stay," she said.

He was going to die of blue-balls at some point during the night, he thought. But he did stay. And when she shifted restlessly in her sleep and found her way into his arms, he thought back to those two times she had fallen asleep in his arms before in that cavern six months ago. Unlike those previous two times though, this time he let himself drift to sleep too.

.-.-.

After waking her up from her sleep last time, Sinbad no longer snuck into her chambers to watch her sleep. He didn't realise that by now Kougyoku actually did want to go all the way with him, and was waiting for him to come to her room as she felt that it would be too forward of her if she barged into his room to take the initiative.

She eventually stirred up the courage to ask for advice from Yamuraiha and Pisti, but Sharkkan had overheard what was strictly supposed to be a girls only conversation and barged in, announcing, "I know what you can do!"

There was an evil glint in his eyes at this declaration and when he had whispered his plans to his fellow female generals, and all three turned to look at her with matching evil expressions, Kougyoku wondered what she had gotten herself into.

Irate out of frustration yet again due to his abstinence and the dreadful unresolved sexual tension between him and his wife, Sinbad snapped at the dancer that approached him from behind without even properly looking at her, rather than gently rejecting her advances as he normally did these days.

"Leave!"

But the woman did not. Instead, she leaned against his ear and whispered, "Are you sure?"

That voice-!

Kougyoku was the last person he'd expect wearing an outfit like that out in public like this. Sinbad could tell at once that it was Sharkkan who had leant her the outfit and he was torn between beating the man up and thanking him.

She wasn't wearing the belly dancer uniform - thank goodness for that - but what she was wearing was still far too short and revealing for his current frustration. He'd never seen her show so much skin outside of battle or the privacy of her chambers, and he was torn between somehow finding an excuse to cover her up despite it being rather warm and just kissing her right there, to hell with the surrounding onlookers, who were holding their breath and watching the couple's every action.

While he was all torn about it, she decided for him. She moved away.

He made to move after her, except she started dancing. He couldn't keep his eyes off her, but he also knew that the other men couldn't either, and he had the irrational desire to put everyone watching her to sleep with Zepar.

She didn't dance for very long, but it was pure torture for him.

When her dancing ended to the thundering applause of the audience, wolf-whistles and increased demands for an encore, Sinbad couldn't take it anymore. He equipped Focalor, threw his squeaking wife and queen over his shoulder, rode the winds and vanished into the night sky.

As the catcalls and wolf-whistles increased in fervour at another unexpected display from the royal couple, Jaafar sighed. "He could be less obvious about it."

"Well, the Queen's intentions weren't that subtle either," Pisti piped.

"That was all your doing!" Yamuraiha accused Sharkkan, who shrugged.

"I wasn't the one who taught her to dance like that."

"Are you insinuating that I did?!"

As the two's bickering raged on, not far from them Hinahoho and Drakon resignedly forked money over to Spartos and Mashrur, who won the bet that their king did at least manage to restrain himself and wait until their queen had finished dancing before stealing her away.

.-.-.

"Um, Sinbad-," Kougyoku tried to say but he dumped her unceremoniously on his bed, unequipped Focalor, pinned her down and kissed her.

When he finally let her breathe, he demanded, "How do you take this dress off?"

She still looked dazed from the kiss they'd just shared and could only look at him blankly.

Such a reaction pleased him but, "If you don't tell me, I'm going to tear it off," he warned.

When he saw that she really wasn't wearing a brasserie, he groaned.

"It - it would have shown," she explained.

"Do you have any idea how many men were lusting after you tonight?"

"There was only one man's attentions I cared about," she whispered.

.-.-.

While in the middle of it, with Kougyoku lying on her stomach:

"I - I want to see your face," she whispered.

She was just…!

"Um, Sin-"

Kougyoku only managed to see a glimpse of Sinbad's rather pleased face after he turned her over before he kissed her and entered her again with a swift thrust.

.-.-.

"Can you call me Sinbad from now on?" he asked much later on, as he ran a hand down her back.

"S-Sinbad," she managed to say. She looked up at him pensively, but seemed to come to a decision. "You can call me Kougyoku."

"Kougyoku," he tried out and smiled at the blush that bloomed on her face, a far cry from the way she'd snapped at him when he tried calling her that before.

.-.-.

The next morning, the generals were pleased to see both their rulers come down to breakfast together for once. Sinbad was even holding Kougyoku's hand as he escorted her down the stairs, and she seemed like she was avoiding everyone's gaze, face flushed. It was not unlike a scene they had witnessed before in the past during Kougyoku's stay as a long term guest. Except this time Sinbad's expression was not at all fake and the way he was escorting her was not out of courtesy to a foreign princess, but in an affectionate manner for a consort.

.-.-.

At the moment, it might only be mutual attraction, lust and friendly affection between the king and queen of Sindria, but it was more than what the generals had hoped for, given the terrible obstacles the two had to overcome between them to even become that physically close.

At the very least, their king was now fully focused on his kingly duties and their queen made a point to show up more often together with him during their feasts with the people, which further cemented the point that yes, amazingly, the once upon a time Ladykiller of the Seven Seas was now no longer interested in anyone else.

.-.-.

It was Sinbad's birthday today. The feast was always more lively than the usual ones they held, and every other year Sinbad would stay on drinking throughout the night - one of the few times that Jaafar would let him do so without restraint - but this year was different. This year he was married, and when Kougyoku had whispered something into his ear, he had been happy enough to leave the festivities early with her, something that would have been unheard of previously. The scene caused wolf whistles to erupt from anyone who was still sober enough to notice anything and made Jaafar consider if he should just bring Kougyoku along if he wanted Sinbad to cooperate with anything from now on.

Kougyoku led him into his bedroom first - they decided to still keep their separate bedrooms and just slept in whichever room the first person who slept did (usually that was Kougyoku's bed, since sometimes Sinbad was up until late at night due to his kingly duties) - making him confused.

"I'll just get ready in my room alright?" she explained as she went to her bedroom.

"It's - it's a surprise," she said from her side of the adjoining door between their chambers a couple of minutes later. "Keep your eyes closed, please?"

When she came over, she saw that he had used his turban of all things to cover his eyes. She stifled a smile at that. Honestly, only he would use his crown in such a manner.

"Not yet!" she told him as she made her way to where he was on his bed and before she could change her mind due to embarrassment, straddled him. "You can open them now."

Kougyoku was dressed in as little clothing as he'd ever seen her wear, including her undergarments, and that was saying something. Honestly, this get up covered less skin even compared to the usual belly dancing outfit, which he didn't think was possible.

"That night…this was one of the outfits that was suggested but it was too embarrassing, so…," she still looked embarrassed at this moment, but she kept her hands determinedly behind her back. He imagined that they were itching to cover his eyes from taking in - very happily, might he add - the rather exposed sight of her.

"If you'd worn this then…I probably wouldn't even have let you dance before I whisked you away," he admitted throatily.

She reddened even more. "Sharkkan-san told me that I should keep it anyway," she murmured. "Just in case."

Much, much later…"…You said 'one of the outfits'," Sinbad belatedly realised.

"I'm saving those for…other special occasions,"

Dang, Sharkkan my man you are getting a raise!

.-.-.

During the after glow one night:

"When you found out that I was controlling you…why did you turn the sword on yourself and not on me?" Sinbad asked quietly.

"I just…couldn't," she replied vaguely. Seeing his unsatisfied face, she murmured, "You don't understand why?"

And then he realised. She had still been in love with him even at that moment. For her, even though he had betrayed her, he was still a person who was important to her. So rather than having to choose whether to hurt him to free herself of his control or to hurt her family due to his control, she picked a third option and tried to hurt herself instead.

He kissed her. When he started to touch her again, she tried to protest, albeit weakly, "Wait, Sinbad - I'm - I'm too tired -"

"Then just lie back and relax," he murmured. "And let me pamper you."

"But-," the rest of her protests died away in her throat as he kissed her again.

Later on, when she was asleep, Sinbad traced her face lightly with his hand.

Even then, you would rather kill yourself than hurt me. Even though I was in the wrong.

And although he would not realise it yet until much later on, that night was when Sinbad started to fall in love with her.

.-.-.

Sinbad was about to leave on a diplomatic mission with Jaafar and Mashrur today. (Both Jaafar and Mashrur had spoken privately to Kougyoku earlier, promising to make sure that no…incidents would happen to Sinbad when they were over there, to which she just smiled and trusted their ability to make sure he stayed out of trouble)

This wasn't the first time during their marriage that he had left on a diplomatic mission, but it was the first one after that night when he started…seeing Kougyoku in a different light. The duration of the trip wasn't even going to be that long, but for some reason, he felt uneasy.  
"Don't get into trouble over there," she told him half teasingly, half seriously.

He just looked at her seriously, rather than countering back with a tease as he usually did, making her feel self-conscious. "…Sinbad?"

He kissed her. It was a sudden move Kougyoku hadn't predicted he'd do since all this time they had kept anything intimate between them out of the public eye, and here he was kissing her unabashedly like this in front of practically everyone!

When he finally broke away, he barely registered the cheers and wolf whistles that came from his generals and everyone else at the dock, as he was fully focused on Kougyoku's face. She looked so embarrassed and seemed like she wanted to revert back to her old habits and hide her face behind her sleeves, except she was wearing a Sindrian style dress today, not a Kou one and so she just stood there, looking like she was about to swoon. He whispered something into her ear, making her even redder if that was even possible, and called Pisti and Yamuraiha over to her side before he finally went up the ramp onto the ship.

As the ship sailed away, Pisti was trying to get Kougyoku to spill on what Sinbad had whispered to her, but she refused to share.

"I won't, as long as I have you waiting here for me."

.-.-.

All the times when Sinbad had left for diplomatic missions, Sindria had been attacked a couple of times by those who had somehow known that its strongest defender was absent, but none had ever attacked when Kougyoku had become its queen. There was a first time for everything though, and unfortunately this occurred when Kougyoku had fallen ill not long after Sinbad had left on his trip. The other generals he'd left behind to protect Sindria were strong, but this was an opponent whose natural enemy was that of Vinea, and despite her illness, Kougyoku readied herself to go on attack, against everyone else's wishes.

"But Kougyoku-san, you're ill! You can't-"

"I can't go and defend my kingdom?" she shot back. "You know that Vinea is the best way to defeat these opponents."

Before the generals could deter her any further, she fully djinn equipped Vinea and flew up into the sky before they could stop her. In the end, she was right, a single wave of her extreme magic completely defeated the enemies without causing a single casualty on Sindria's side, to everyone's cheers.

Cheers which quickly turned into gasps of horror when they saw their queen fainting in mid-air after using up the last bit of her energy to perform that attack, and falling towards the ocean.

.-.-.

The moment Sinbad fully realised that he was starting to truly fall in love with his wife, and did not simply desire her as a sexual partner and a consort; was when in his absence, she risked her life to protect Sindria using her djinn and almost died in the process.

The thought that he had almost lost her, like that time a year ago when she had without hesitation, unexpectedly chosen to try and kill herself rather than him when she realised that he had put her under a curse, pained him in a way he didn't recall ever feeling before.

He stayed by her bedside, eating only when being spoon-fed and otherwise taking care of himself only when his generals bossed him around, who kept telling him that Kougyoku was not going to be happy when she woke up to an undernourished and unhygienic husband.

.-.-.

Once Kougyoku had woken up and gained enough strength, Sinbad spoke to her in as soon as they were left in private, "I won't stop you from acting on your ability as a warrior. But please. Not if your life is -" he couldn't manage to finish that sentence. His throat became dry all of a sudden.

"At risk?" she finished softly. Her eyes looked grave, but not apologetic. "Using Vinea was the swiftest and easiest way to resolve those attacks."

"Not if you lose your life in the process."

"The lives of the many citizens are more valuable than mine alone," she said quietly. She meant it too.

"Every single person in Sindria is important," he told her.

She dropped her gaze from his, looking at her hands laid on top of the blanket. "…I understand. I will not act so recklessly next time."

He grasped her chin so she would look at him. "Every single person in Sindria is important," he repeated.

"But you're -" he paused. "I -" he tried again, all the while looking somewhat perturbed.

He gave up trying to finish that sentence and embraced her. "I'm glad you're safe," he whispered into her hair.

She could feel his heart beat wildly in his chest. Her fingers clenched on the back of his robes. "I'm glad too," she whispered.

.-.-.  
The two of them became more publicly affectionate. The Sindrian people thought that meant their queen had finally become comfortable with being treated so affectionately by her husband in public, and felt happy for the change, while heartbroken females who were still besotted with their happily married king despaired.  
Sinbad liked kissing Kougyoku in public not only because he could now, but also because she would have this embarrassed look on her face that was different from the one she showed him when they kissed in the privacy of their chambers.

After so much public kissing though, the bashful redhead eventually became accustomed to kissing in front of others, and the embarrassed look appeared less and less frequently.

But sometimes…she would have this aroused look on her face that made him want to drop whatever he was doing, whisk her away into their chambers and -

Basically, in the end he tried his best to keep their public kissing to a minimum these days. There was no subtle way to hide an aroused groin after all without being too obvious about it.

And also because his generals (all of them, to varying degrees) were having a rather fun time teasing the two of them about their unabashedly prolonged hours in their chambers even during broad daylight.

.-.-.

Jaafar twisted this to his advantage, as usual. "Sin, don't make me tell Kougyoku-san that you've been leaving your work unfinished just to spend time with her. You know she'll lock you out of her bedroom until you finish doing it."

Drakon had taken to giving him marital advice even when he wasn't drunk, because he said that Sinbad needed all the help he could get, what with his playboy background and all.

Hinahoho was the most vocal in terms of blatantly looking forward to the appearance of their children and wasn't shy in expressing it, "So when can I expect any children from you to play with mine? With all the time you two spend in the bedroom, I am fully expecting some soon."

Even Mashrur: "…Shall we reschedule our spar to another time when you have more…energy?" he suggested, when they sparred and the Fanalis seemed to feel that Sinbad wasn't as challenging as he usually could be.

On Kougyoku's end, Sharkkan would ask her teasingly, "Do you need any more special clothing, my queen?"  
Drakon's wife and Pisti would keep giving her sexual advice, while Yamuraiha would despair during these women only meet ups, being the only one who wasn't in a relationship.

Spartos wasn't the type to tease, but he would still bet on his king's and queen's relationship, and usually won on anything that was being betted on.

.-.-.

Kouha came by for a diplomatic visit from Kou this time when the news reached Kou about how Kougyoku had collapsed after defending Sindria from its enemies when Sinbad was away. It was a sight that had to be seen to be believed, what with the much shorter man giving an earful to Sinbad for letting Kougyoku get hurt, all while Kougyoku was trying to deter him from doing so, insisting that it was all her fault, while Sinbad just took all these threats and nagging in stride.

.-.-.

One afternoon, while she was relaxing in the flower garden, for no apparent reason, Kougyoku fainted, to everyone's panic. They had not forgotten frightening scene of her fainting in mid air and falling into the ocean that one time. But the doctor had positively beamed after her checkup.

"Congratulations, Your Majesties! It looks like Sindria will have its first prince or princess soon."

.-.-.

For some reason after finding out about her pregnancy, Kougyoku was avoiding him. Which confused and irritated him.

Sinbad finally managed to corner her in her chambers before she could pretend that she was sleeping. "Why are you avoiding me?" he asked.

"What makes you say that?"

"Did I do something wrong?"

She still wouldn't look at him and just shook her head. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"Then…why do you keep avoiding me?" he asked. He wasn't even trying to mask the pain in his voice.

"I'm - I'm pregnant now," she said, as if that would answer everything.

He didn't understand. "And so…?"

"You will have your heir, so I thought you wouldn't…" Kougyoku trailed off, but the end of her sentence hung in the air between them. Want me anymore…

This was about the concept of rulers in the Kou empire being able to have concubines again. Now that she was pregnant with his child and heir, Kougyoku truly believed that her child bearing role as a consort was fulfilled for now and fully expected him to move onto another woman, especially since she will at some point in her pregnancy be unable to fully satisfy him sexually since she would be unable to have full on sex with him.

And having a father as she did, with many siblings fathered through multiple mothers, that must have skewed her view of what a marriage was like, or specifically, what a royal marriage was like. She had been too young to remember that her uncle, the previous emperor, had been a monogamous man who chose to have only one empress at his side.

Sinbad couldn't blame her for still thinking that he would be no different from her father, given his previously playboy ways and the fact that he never made it clearly known to her that his feelings now went beyond the affection he felt for her in the beginning of their marriage.

He took her hands in his, and was glad that at least she wasn't flinching from his touch. "Even if you were unable to have children," he said, choosing the words carefully. "I would still want you as my consort. Only you, Kougyoku."

She swallowed. The thought of him not desiring anyone else brought her happiness, but - "But Sindria -"

"Can forge other alliances without the promise of marriage to me just fine," he interrupted her. He grinned. "Or else I would have seven spouses rather than generals bossing me around by now." And what a circus that would have turned the Sindrian palace into. Or well, more of one than it was now, at any rate.

But their marriage had been…

"Our marriage was unexpected," Sinbad admitted. "But now I…I cannot imagine anyone else as my consort, wife…and the mother of my children, Gyoku."

It was the closest thing to a declaration of love he had ever given to anyone, but it seemed enough, as she finally cried and embraced him.

.-.-.

"Why are you here again?" Sinbad said irritably when Judar came by for another so called diplomatic visit from Kou. "Weren't you just here last month?"

"To annoy you, of course," he said easily. "And you know what the other reason is."  
Sinbad definitely knew what the other reason was. If only that man would just come over for a visit, then maybe he'd stop getting these annoying visits from Judar. He didn't mind visits from Hakuryuu that much, but the ones that had Judar as the diplomat did irritate him at times. The only reason he tolerated them was because Kougyoku was always happy to see him when he came over for a visit.

"I've just arrived and you're already irritated? What, did you do something to the old hag?" Judar said sharply. After all, Kougyoku had been injured that one time Sinbad had been away.

"Done something is one way of phrasing it," Sinbad muttered.  
Judar glared at him, before searching for Kougyoku. "Old hag! Did Sinbad do something again -" and then his eyes fell on Kougyoku's slightly swollen stomach. "Oh."

He wagged his eyebrows at the purple haired man, who just sighed. "Done something indeed," he snickered.

"Judar!" Kougyoku greeted him happily. "Did you bring any of my favourite food with you?"

"'Course I did! Let me get them." He'd leave teasing her until later. Pregnant women and their cravings were scary and not something to mess with, a fact he'd learned the hard way during Hakuei's pregnancy. As he passed by Sinbad on his way out, he said quietly, "And you'll have some explaining to do as to why you didn't report this to us earlier."

Because I was hoping to keep you people away from here for just a little while longer, Sinbad thought exasperatedly. He sighed as he imagined the future visits they'd be getting soon from his in-laws now and all the threats and nagging he was going to get from them.

.-.-.

In the past, the visit of an empress of the Kou empire with the newly born next-in-line in tow to a previously enemy kingdom would have been unheard of. But times have changed, and as the closest older sister figure Kougyoku had, Hakuei insisted on coming over to check on her younger cousin and sister-in-law as soon as she heard of her pregnancy from Judar's gleeful report.

"Are you doing well? Do you have morning sickness? Any food cravings?"

.-.-.

Sinbad liked to equate the whole period of Kougyoku's pregnancy with Sindria's heir as payback and karma for all he'd done to her in the past. She had him on his knees willingly for instance, giving her foot massages which she insisted he gave best compared to anyone else. And how was he supposed to say no to those eyes of hers that were pleading for him to somehow get her favourite food all the way from the Kou empire? And that he himself must get them? He certainly became a source of amusement for his brothers-in-law and Judar, and was lucky that Koumei could be convinced to teleport him quickly back to Sindria on the journeys back (with the guilt-tripping threat that or else Kougyoku was going to be inconsolable if she didn't get her food as soon as possible).

.-.-.

Sinbad was strangely reluctant to have sex with her especially after her pregnancy became obvious. He was abstaining much like he was before they consummated their marriage.

"The baby won't know about it," she reasoned.

"But I will!"

"But I want you to touch me…," despite how honest and very telling the words were, Kougyoku was red in the face and not looking at him as she said this.

He's heard of how horny some pregnant women could get, but since he previously thought he would never get married, he didn't think he'd ever have to deal with one.

But if it meant that Kougyoku would initiate and want to have sex more often like this, then - he grinned.

"Well then, if my queen commands it of me…," he said wickedly.

.-.-.

Sinbad didn't realise how easily he could become jealous until he married Kougyoku. In Kougyoku's latest letter to Alibaba, she had informed him of the news that she was with child and he finally managed to come over for a visit. Watching the two, him gleefully patting her stomach and her all glowing and happy, anyone could have mistaken the two of them as parents of the unborn child.

It wouldn't do for Kougyoku to see him wrathful, he reminded himself. Her friendship with Alibaba was important, similar to the ones he shared with his generals. He would have to learn to accept it in stride.  
Something Alibaba said made Kougyoku giggle, and her eyes sparkle in a manner she rarely showed most people.

In stride, he repeated to himself silently, even as a tick began forming on his forehead.

.-.-.

"You're actually full on glaring at me now," Alibaba commented later when he bumped into the older man in private. He was smirking. "I'll take that as a good sign."

Sinbad raised an eyebrow at him. A good sign of what…?

"Kougyoku's happy. Good on you. But if she gives any indication at all -" the threat was left hanging, but it was understood. That she isn't and she wants to leave, then Balbadd will always be open to her.

.-.-.

So it was perfectly understandable why he was reluctant to let her go to Alibaba and Morgiana's wedding in Balbadd after the birth of their daughter. Not that she gave any indication at all that she was unhappy with him or Sindria in general, but his insecurity - a feeling that he never had to deal with before his marriage to her - made him paranoid of such a possibility.

But…he sighed. Her happiness was more important than his insecurity or paranoia. And it wasn't like he wasn't going to be tagging along as well and glowering at the Balbadd king over Kougyoku's head every chance he got.

.-.-.

"Do you regret not being married to him instead?" Sinbad asked quietly when they put their daughter to sleep that night.

Kougyoku tried not to show that she was startled by the question. Alibaba did tell her that Sinbad was jealous of their friendship, but she hadn't believed him.

And now her husband was bluntly asking such a question, on the night of the Balbadd rulers' wedding.

"When Kouen-niisama told me that I was to wed you instead of Alibaba-chan…I despaired," she answered honestly. "But…if I had, then would it really have turned out for the best in the long run? The three of us might have only ended up being hurt in the end." And seeing Alibaba and Morgiana tripping over the words as they exchanged vows with each other (with Aladdin acting as the loudly whispering corrector for both of them, going from the groom's side to the bride's side), and the bride unconventionally carrying the groom in the traditional so called bridal style way down the aisle to the laughter of the wedding guests - Kougyoku was glad that she hadn't stood in the way of the two's relationship.

"I'm glad I didn't get married to him. Our friendship might not have lasted if we had, and I value it as it is."  
Do you regret being married to me? What was perhaps the true question hung silently in the air.

She straddled him and whispered playfully into his ear. "Why don't you show me that I would have regretted not being married to you instead?"

Much later, when solemnity no longer clung to him, Kougyoku told Sinbad the answer to the question he hadn't wanted to ask.

"Always remember. Regardless of how we started, I am happy with what we have now."

.-.-.

"Are you happy here, Kougyoku?" Kouen asked seriously.

She smiled. Remembering how despaired she looked when he had told her that she was to wed the man who had formerly taken control over her mind, he doubted he would see that smile in his presence again, as he had betrayed her trust in him as an elder brother by handing her over to such a man.

And yet there it was, full and sincere, two years since he'd personally came to see her face to face, busy as he was dealing with the after effects the Al-Thamen had left over their empire after the possessed Gyokuen had taken over in full.

Truthfully, he also kept avoiding coming over for a visit for a while out of guilt, until his empress threatened not to let him anywhere near her after her current pregnancy unless he goes over to Sindria to see his sister for himself rather than only continuously hearing about her wellbeing from the detailed reports of the Kou ambassadors he kept sending over to Sindria for minute reasons. The ambassadors were usually either Hakuryuu - who admittedly did need something else to do aside from moping around the Kou palace due to his unrequited love for Balbadd's new queen or Judar, who would not miss a chance to bug Sinbad especially now that he didn't really have a reason to since they were no longer enemies and also so he could check up on his favourite 'old hag'. Kouha and Koumei also came by once or twice to check up on their favourite little sister, and even Hakuei had made the time to go over in between her first and current pregnancies, so Kougyoku could meet Kou's first crown princess.

"Yes I am, Kouen-niisama."

"Good," he said gruffly. "May I hold my niece?"

Said niece had inherited Sinbad's purple locks and Kougyoku's pink eyes. Not that there was ever any question of who her father was, especially from the reports he'd receive from everyone of the Sindrian king's unexpected attachment to his youngest sister and the way he easily became jealous over most males who interacted with her.

Including him, he realised with a smirk as he felt the bronze eyed glare boring into the back of his head from above the flower garden, as the Sindrian crown princess smiled at him while tugging happily on her uncle's goatee.

.-.-.

It was irrational to be envious of your brother-in-law, Sinbad thought. Even if it was the brother his wife looked up to the most and he suspected her of having perhaps a big brother complex about.

"You've been glaring at Kouen-niisama a lot ever since he came to visit. Did the two of you get into a fight?"  
A fight? If only it was that. "He's stealing away the attention of the most important ladies in my life," he told her seriously.

To be continued...?

Notes:

As stated in the tags, this is incomplete. I probably nerfed Koumei's teleportation too and Kouen definitely wouldn't do something as drastic as strike Sinbad like that all of a sudden, but this is AU, so who knows right? -_-'

I so need to find some fanart that depicts the 8 generals as Sinbad's spouses rather than his generals ;p


End file.
